Bangalore: Child Falls from Third Floor, Dies

Bangalore, August 21 (DHNS): A two-year-old boy fell to death from the third floor balcony of a house in a four-storey apartment at Vijaya Bank Layout here on Monday afternoon.

The deceased has been identified as Poorvaj, son of Giri Babu, a software engineer. Babu, who belongs to Mantralayam in Andhra Pradesh, is employed with Honeywell Technology Solutions Lab off Bannerghatta Road. The family had recently shifted to a third floor flat in Chaitrashree Apartments.

Poorvaj’s mother Neelima, a housewife, after finishing her morning chores, went to her neighbour Sapna Kiran Kumar’s house in the afternoon to have a chat. Poorvaj and Sapna’s four-year-old son played with a ball, as the two women were talking in the hall. After sometime, Sapna’s son reported that Poorvaj had fallen from the balcony while trying to reach out for the ball. The two women rushed down and took Poorvaj to Fortis Hospital.

According to a doctor at the hospital, the child had suffered severe head injuries and had virtually no neurological responses on arrival.

However, the child did record heart beats and efforts were made to revive him. A CT scan was conducted on the child, which showed multiple skull fractures and bleeding on the right side of the brain. The doctor ruled out surgical intervention as Poorvaj was in a critical condition. The child was declared dead at 3:15 pm.
Reconstructing the events, Sudheer, the boy’s uncle, told Deccan Herald: “As the two children were playing in the house, the ball fell off the balcony on to the road. Poorvan climbed up the railings of the balcony to look, lost balance and fell down 30 feet.”

Chennabasappa, the security guard at the apartment, told Deccan Herald that he did not see the boy fall, but rushed to the spot as he heard a loud thud.

Flats in the apartment have a balcony attached to the kitchen. This reporter who visited the apartment found some of the houses on the second and fourth floors fitted with safety railings. However, the house where the incident occurred had railings up to only three feet in the balcony.

A case of unnatural death has been registered at Mico Layout Police Station.